Recipe for Salt Dough

Salt dough is easy to make using just flour,
salt and water. This basic recipe for salt dough is very simple, there's no cooking involved just simply mix the ingredients together in a bowl and knead.

The finished dough can last for
over a month if stored well. Modelling with salt dough is lots of fun.
It's not just for kids to play with either.

You will find yourself
making some lovely accessories for you and your home very soon.

You will also find useful tips and techniques for making your own salt
dough crafts. You will find that you already have most of the
ingredients and materials you will need in your kitchen or tool box.

Materials and Equipment

Equipment you may want to use include pastry cutters, knife or modelling
tools, rolling pin, garlic press, beads and other decorative items.

This is not a comprehensive list and you may wish to use other items
with your salt dough craft ideas.

For salt dough sculpture you will need
wire, wire cutters and pliers as shown in the photo on the below.

Recipe For Salt Dough

3 cups of plain flour

1 cup of table salt

1 cup of water

Large bowl for mixing

Cup for measuring

Board for kneading

Baking Tray

Greaseproof Paper

Spray on cooking oil

Cling film or plastic food bag for storage

Mia's Top Tip

Store your dough in the fridge when not in use.

Wrap well in cling film
or place in a plastic bag.

Whilst using the dough remove only a little
at a time to work with or the dough will dry out and the salt will
crystallize giving a rough surface.

Salt dough can be kept in the fridge
for a month or more, it may become damp after a long storage period
just add more flour when you are ready to use it.

It may also develop a
sharp smell but it is still fine to use and the smell will disappear
once it has been baked.

Salt Dough Tutorial

Put all the ingredients into a bowl.

Mix until you have a smooth pliable dough.

Baking Salt Dough

You can bake your salt dough in a regular oven. There are 2 different methods for baking that I use depending on the thickness of the dough.

Try to time the baking when the oven will not be in use. If the dough
cools too much before being fully baked it can cause air bubbles beneath
the surface.

You can use cooking spray oil to grease any mold or container that you use to bake your dough on.

For flat pieces bake on a baking tray covered with grease proof paper.

For thick pieces of dough bake in the oven at 100oC/200oF for around 12 hours or overnight depending on the thickness of the dough.
Thinner pieces may only take around 4 hours but you can reduce the temperature a little to leave them overnight if you prefer.

Leave the dough on the baking sheet to cool before trying to move.

If you do have to remove your dough from the oven before
baking has finished try to keep it warm until you can continue the
baking.

If air bubbles do appear use a safety pin to pop the bubble and
smooth the dough back down you may have to apply a little water to get
the surfaces to stick back together.

Rolling Out Your Salt Dough

Use craft sticks to get your rolled out dough to a uniform thickness.

You can make a range of sizes starting with one stick or glue several
sticks together for larger pieces.

I find three sticks glued together gives a good thickness for bases and plaques.

Roll the dough between the two sticks so that the rolling pin runs along them on both sides of the dough.

Joining Your Salt Dough Pieces

Water acts like a glue for salt dough.

For small pieces of dough dampen
the the pieces that will be joined and place them together.

When joining
two larger pieces of dough together you will need to use a knife or
flat modelling tool.

Place your pieces together as instructed above.

Get the knife or modelling tool wet with a little water then carefully
scrape a little dough from one piece to the other to create a seal.

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